Govt to proceed with Medibank sale

THE Abbott government will go ahead with the sale of health insurer Medibank Private as it attempts to heal the budget.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says an independently-prepared scoping study into the planned sale has reaffirmed the government's long-held view that there is no compelling reason for it to own a private health fund.

The sale will be conducted in the 2014/15 financial year, but the precise timing and structure of the initial public offering are yet to be determined.

"The scoping study found no evidence that premiums will increase as a result of the sale," Senator Cormann told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

He was coy on what the government hoped to raise from the privatisation, but it has been previously valued at around $4 billion.

Further details will be announced in the May 13 budget.

Labor said the sale would mean the government would miss out on annual dividend from Medibank of as much as $500 million.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also launched an attack on the government's handling of the mid-year budget review, saying it was lying about the budget situation to justify its agenda of cruel cuts.

It made a mockery of former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello's Charter of Budget Honesty, he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

The budget will be a test of leadership for Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey and that framing a budget requires more than fudging figures and accounting trickery, he said.

Independent analysis commissioned by Labor from the Parliamentary Budget Office had shone a light on the government's deception, Mr Shorten said.

"It shows Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have tried to doctor the debt and deficit figures to set the scene for severe cuts and broken election promises."

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said the analysis showed the impacts of the coalition government's decision to drop the former government's fiscal rules and commit to nearly $14 billion in new spending.

Gross debt would be 40 per cent lower in 2023/24 than forecast by the government in the mid-year budget review and the budget would be $34 billion in surplus that year, rather than a $12 billion deficit, according to the analysis.

Mr Hockey insists his budget numbers tell the truth and "Labor's didn't".

He ridiculed the suggestion that if the coalition had kept to Labor's budget rules the budget would be coming back to surplus.

"The problem is that Labor never kept to their budget rules," he told an exceptionally rowdy parliamentary question time.

He reminded the house yet again that on more than 300 occasions Labor had promised to deliver a surplus, but they never did.

"They have no economic credibility, they got every single number wrong and they left the Australian people to pick up the bill from a very bad Labor government," he said.

Separate modelling suggests there would need to be $55 billion worth of savings in 2023/24 alone to achieve a surplus.

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Two men shot and wounded in Sydney's west

TWO men have been shot and wounded in separate incidents at Merrylands in Sydney's west, with the shootings believed to be linked to an armed robbery.

A man aged in his 20's was found with several gunshot wounds to his stomach when police were called to a petrol station on the corner of Woodville and Merrylands Roads about 10.50pm on Wednesday.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital where his condition was unknown.

At the same time, police were called to Lansdowne Street after a resident reported hearing arguing in the street.

Police found a man, believed to be aged his 50's, with a suspected gunshot wound to his chest.

He was treated by paramedics and taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition.

Detectives believe the incidents are linked, possibly as a result of an armed robbery.

Investigators are looking for four males believed to be involved in the shootings.

One is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, with a thin build, a small amount of facial hair and tattoos across his body including one on his face.

A second man is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, with a short and thin build, a beard and tattoos.

The other two men have not been described.

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Lessons of WWI 'speak to us still': Obama

US President Barack Obama has laid a wreath at the World War I memorial at Flanders Field, noting the war that tore apart Europe still echoes in conflicts 100 years later.

"The lessons of that war speak to us still," Obama said on Wednesday in his first stop since arriving in Belgium late on Tuesday.

The president is in Brussels for a summit with European Union leaders.

He's also slated to meet with NATO's secretary-general and deliver a speech at the Palais des Beaux-Arts.

The itinerary, like much of Obama's European trip this week, is expected to be dominated by talk of a new threat on Europe's doorstep.

Obama and European leaders are to discuss Russia's armed seizure of the Crimean peninsula and how the West can prevent Moscow from moving further into Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Obama repeated threats of more painful economic sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin sends troops into other regions of the former Soviet state.

But the president also acknowledged that, for now, Crimea is likely to remain in Russian control.

"There's no expectation that they will be dislodged by force," he said in a news conference in The Hague.

Still, Russia's neighbours are looking for assurance that NATO will make good on its obligations to defend them.

Other European nations are worried about the effect that broader sanctions would have on their own fragile economies.

Obama's remarks later on Wednesday are expected to address such concerns, while avoiding the divisive and dated rhetoric of the Cold War era, officials have said.

The president's visit comes 100 years after the outbreak of World War I, an anniversary being widely marked in Europe.

In a morning ceremony at the cemetery west of Brussels, Obama, Belgian King Philippe and Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo placed wreaths at a monument erected to the missing dead.

In remarks afterward, all three leaders made reference to lessons of the war that apply today.

"Our countries have learned the hard way that national sovereignty quickly reaches its limits when met with heavily armed adversaries," said the king, who noted that his great-grandfather, King Albert, fought in the war.

Di Rupo warned that "those who ignore the past are taking the risk to relive it."

Noting that chemical weapons were used to "devastating effect" on Flanders Field, Obama said that today, in Syria and elsewhere, the world still struggles to eradicate their use.

"We thought we had banished their use to history, and our efforts send a powerful message that these weapons have no place in a civilised world. This is one of the ways that we can honour those who fell here," Obama said.

"This visit, this hallowed ground, reminds us that we must never, ever take our progress for granted."

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Barnett smirks at Abbott's knights move

EVEN a traditional Liberal and dyed-in-the-wool royalist such as Colin Barnett has smirked at Tony Abbott's decision to restore knights and dames in the Order of Australia.

Asked on talkback radio if he would accept a knighthood, the West Australian Premier said: "I don't think I'll face that dilemma."

"Sir Colin - it's got a nice ring to it, hasn't it?" he laughed on Fairfax radio on Wednesday.

"As far as Western Australia is concerned, we're not going to go down the knighthood path, as some states may choose to do."

The WA Liberal leader's love of the British royals is evident - beaming when the Queen attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth in 2011 and naming the new Elizabeth Quay development in her honour, earning it the nicknames "Betty's Jetty" and the "Regina Marina" among locals.

"But ... I think we've moved on. When people look back in history, the last vestiges of colonial history, you know, time to stand up Australia. Be a big country in your own right," Mr Barnett said.

Mr Barnett said John Howard was "a red hot tip" for a knighthood.

Online bookmaker Sportsbet agrees, pricing the former prime minister as the $3 favourite to become a "sir" in 2014.

"John Howard is a very strong believer in the monarchy and I respect that," Mr Barnett said.

Prominent Perth businesswoman and republican Janet Holmes a Court told ABC radio on Tuesday that people would think Mr Abbott's decision was "some kind of joke" and must have come after he downed "a little bit too much red" the previous night.

"We will all wake up and think this is some kind of bad dream," she said.

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Rod Stewart's rare Lamborghini up for sale

A RARE Lamborghini once owned by rocker Rod Stewart is being sold for nearly STG1 million ($A1.81 million) in the UK.

The singer bought the two-door Lamborghini Miura P400S brand new in 1971, when it did 0-60 miles per hour (96.5 km/h) in 6.7 seconds with a top speed of 275 km/h - the fastest road car of its kind in the world at the time.

The pristine four-litre blue sports car with silver trim has recently undergone a STG100,000 restoration and is being sold on AutoTrader for STG899,999.

It is one of only 338 produced between December 1968 and March 1971.

One was owned by Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis also had one, which he crashed in October 1972 after reportedly taking cocaine, breaking both ankles.

The Miura garnered worldwide appeal when it featured in the opening sequence of Michael Caine classic The Italian Job in 1969.

Stewart owned his for five years until 1976, when it was sold to a private buyer.

An AutoTrader spokesman said: "An old classic like this is rarely seen on the market now and particularly in such good condition for its age; all the love and attention has clearly kept it performing. This is a great investment if you do have 900k in your account."

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Cumberbatch to play Hamlet on London stage

BENEDICT Cumberbatch is going from Sherlock to Shakespeare.

London's Barbican Centre said on Wednesday he would play Hamlet at the venue next year.

The Lyndsey Turner-directed production of Hamlet will run from August to October 2015, and the 12-week stint in the 1160-seat venue is guaranteed to be a hot ticket.

Cumberbatch has gained fans around the world for his role in the BBC TV drama Sherlock as cerebral sleuth Sherlock Holmes.

Producer Sonia Friedman called Cumberbatch "one of the most gifted and exciting actors of his generation."

Cumberbatch, who recently appeared on screen in The Fifth Estate, 12 Years a Slave and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, won an Olivier theatre award for his starring role in Frankenstein at Britain's National Theatre in 2011.

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Thai police seize heroin bound for Aust

THAI police say they have seized 147 kilograms of heroin they believe was destined for Australia, a single haul that exceeded some of Thailand's recent yearly seizure totals.

Police said the heroin seized on Tuesday night in the Andaman Sea port city of Ranong had a street value that would have been three billion baht ($A105 million).

Thai deputy police chief Major General Somyot Pumpanmuang said on Wednesday that two men - a Thai and a Malaysian - were arrested on trafficking charges when police seized the heroin.

Thai drug seizures for all 2012 totalled 127.5 kilograms, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Total seizures for 2009 and for 2010 were also smaller than the latest seizure.

Somyot said Tuesday's seizure followed a tip from Australian police to their Thai counterparts.

The drugs were wrapped in 420 packets that were to be hidden in frozen seafood containers.

He said police believed the heroin originated in Myanmar and had been smuggled across Thailand's northern border.

Myanmar is the second biggest producer after Afghanistan of opium, from which heroin is derived.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, most heroin made in Myanmar is trafficked to China.

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Salvos back at child abuse inquiry

THE second public hearing by a royal commission into how the Salvation Army handled allegations of child sexual abuse opens in Sydney on Thursday.

The inquiry follows one in January, which revealed extensive abuse at four homes run by the Christian organisation in NSW and Queensland.

Thursday's public hearing will inquire into the policies, practices and procedures of the Salvos eastern territory division between 1993 and 2014, for responding to claims of child sexual abuse at children's homes it operated.

The experience of people who made complaints to The Salvation Army between 1993 and 2014 will be examined in the hearing, which may run for two weeks.

Janette Dines, CEO of the commission, said in a statement that the policies, practices and procedures between 1989 and 2014 concerning the disciplining of officers of The Salvation Army who were the subject of allegations of child sexual abuse would be examined.

In January, the leader of the Salvation Army, Commissioner James Condon, cried while apologising to victims of child sexual abuse who told the hearing about being raped and bashed and, in some cases, being rented out for sex by one officer when at Bexley Boys' home in NSW in the 1970s.

Commissioner Condon said the army now had a policy in place to respond to abuse victims, which put the survivor first.

The Salvation Army hearing will run for half a day on Thursday, but resume on Friday.

Cardinal George Pell will be back in the witness box on Thursday afternoon to complete his evidence into how the Catholic Church handled complaints by abuse victim John Ellis.

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